Sourdough Donuts Recipe: How to Make Sourdough Donuts
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Jan 15, 2024 • 5 min read
Sourdough donuts taste extra tangy thanks to a sourdough starter, a leavener that requires a bit of extra care but rewards you with a soft and airy dough. Balance the starter’s flavorful boost with a thin veil of buttery vanilla glaze.
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What Are Sourdough Donuts?
Sourdough donuts are rings of fried dough, naturally leavened by a sourdough starter. Most fluffy donuts get their rise from commercial yeast (like active dry yeast), but you can also harness the power of wild yeast with a sourdough starter. After mixing, the dough rises slowly in the refrigerator overnight. The donut dough gets portioned and fried in vegetable oil, then lightly glazed with a simple mixture of powdered sugar, melted butter, milk, and vanilla extract.
What Do Sourdough Donuts Taste Like?
Starter gives sourdough breads, baked goods, and pastries a distinctive fermented taste. The slow overnight rise provides these sourdough donuts with a tangy flavor and results in a tender dough that fries up to become a light and airy crumb.
Balance the sourdough taste with a simple vanilla glaze, or toss the donuts in a cinnamon-sugar mixture for a classic spiced donut flavor.
4 Tips for Making Sourdough Donuts
Here’s how to get consistently fluffy sourdough donuts each time you make them.
- 1. Weigh your ingredients. Using a kitchen scale is the most accurate way to measure ingredients for baked goods, and it provides consistent results every time. Learn how to use a kitchen scale.
- 2. Use an active sourdough starter. While some recipes call for sourdough discard, donuts require an active sourdough starter (a regularly fed starter with lots of active yeast cultures). Feed your starter for at least two consecutive days before using it to make this recipe. Learn more about maintaining a sourdough starter with third-generation French baker Apollonia Poîlane.
- 3. Use room-temperature ingredients. Temperature plays a significant role in developing yeast and bacteria. When working with a live, active starter, using room-temperature ingredients ensures you won’t damage or slow down the leavening process with milk or butter that’s too hot or cold.
- 4. Fry at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. While many frying recipes call for temperatures of 350 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, donuts tend to brown before the interior dough has cooked. To prevent an undercooked dough, fry at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes per side, so the dough has a chance to cook fully. Use an infrared thermometer to keep track of the oil temperature as you fry, and adjust the heat as needed to maintain it.
How to Store Sourdough Donuts
Donuts taste best fresh, but you can store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container for up to three days. Cool the donuts entirely before storing them, and layer them between wax or parchment paper sheets to keep the glaze from drying out or cracking.
Glazed Sourdough Donut Recipe
makes
12 donuts and holesprep time
15 mintotal time
45 mincook time
30 minIngredients
Note: The total time does not include 10 hours of inactive time.
- 1
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the sourdough starter with 240 grams (1 cup) of the milk and stir on low speed until homogenous.
- 2
Add the granulated sugar and continue mixing on low speed.
- 3
Add 50 grams of the melted butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- 4
Add half of the flour and a ¼ teaspoon of the salt and stir for 30 seconds.
- 5
Stir in the remaining flour and continue mixing on low for about 3–4 minutes.
- 6
Increase the speed to medium-high, and knead the dough until it becomes smooth and easily comes away from the sides of the bowl as one solid mass, about 6 minutes.
- 7
If the dough still feels sticky, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of flour and knead until the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl, another 2 minutes.
- 8
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen towel.
- 9
Let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
- 10
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer it to the refrigerator for 8 hours, or overnight.
- 11
The next day, tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.
- 12
Use your hands to gently press the dough into a thick flat circle.
- 13
Using a floured rolling pin, gently roll the dough into a ½-inch thick circle.
- 14
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Lightly dust the baking sheets with flour and set them aside.
- 15
Using a donut cutter or large cookie cutter, portion the dough into 12 large circles and separate the donut holes. (If using a cookie cutter, use a smaller one to cut out 1- to ½-inch holes from the center of the donuts.)
- 16
Transfer the holes and the cut donuts to the prepared baking sheets.
- 17
Cover the portioned donuts and holes with a clean cloth and let them proof until puffed, about 1 hour, at room temperature.
- 18
While the donuts proof, make the glaze. In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or a medium mixing bowl, combine the confectioners’ sugar with the remaining 2 tablespoons of milk, 30 grams of melted butter, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a ¼ teaspoon of salt.
- 19
Whisk until fully combined and there are no lumps. The glaze should be thick enough to leave a trail but not so thin that it will soak into the donut, comparable to the texture of sweetened condensed milk.
- 20
Prepare two baking sheets fitted with wire cooling racks.
- 21
In a heavy-bottomed, high-sided skillet or Dutch oven, add enough oil to reach about 3 inches up the sides of the pan.
- 22
Heat the oil over medium heat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 23
Working in batches, gently lift the proofed donuts and place them into the hot oil.
- 24
Fry the donuts until golden brown on one side, about 2–3 minutes.
- 25
Gently flip the donuts with a slotted spoon or spider tool, and continue to fry until golden brown on the other side, another 2 minutes or so.
- 26
Continue adjusting the heat to maintain 325 degrees Fahrenheit, pausing if needed to allow the oil to come back up to temperature.
- 27
Transfer the cooked donuts to one of the prepared baking sheets.
- 28
Fry the donut holes in batches until golden brown, about 1–2 minutes per side.
- 29
Dip the tops of the donuts into the glaze while they are still warm.
- 30
Transfer the donuts to the second wire rack and let them cool.
- 31
Use the remaining glaze for donut holes. Serve immediately.
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